Seminar: Strengthening Structures for Civil Society Organisations: Challenges and Choices in a Changing Environment

25 May 2015, Athens

The seminar was hosted by our partner organisation VFA (Consulting and Development for Innovation) at its headquarters in Athens, Greece. It was aimed to give participants the fundamentals of an efficient and sustainable organisation, as well as the tools to react to dramatic changes in the environment and to understand the relation between CSOs and the third sector of the economy.

Using tested solutions as well as answers to common dilemmas faced by organisations thriving to survive in a changing environment, the discussion first focused on the application of key principles of good governance and sound management, and on the development of networks at the local, national and international level. Secondly, the seminar explored the international trends in fundraising and social entrepreneurship opportunities, and looked on how to select entities for funding and how to respond to their donor evaluation criteria. Finally, the seminar exposed how social cooperative entrepreneurship is connected with NGOs and how to exploit the possibilities offered by it.

Anna Koniotaki, director of VFA, and Karina Huberman, director of CEACSO, lead the sessions, which were attended by more than twenty local NGO executives, board members and staff personnel.